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Zotero: Managing Items

This guide will assist users in installing and using Zotero to cite, save and manage their research sources.

How To Create a Collection in Zotero

What are collections? Collections allow you to organize resources into groups and subgroups. This means one resource can belong to more than one of your collections and subcollections in your Zotero library at the same time. Collections are useful for filing resources, especially if you are working on more than one project in Zotero simultaneously. With collections, you can group items for a project, by source, by topic, by course, by quality of resource - however it makes sense for you.

  1. To create a new collection in Zotero Standalone, select the New Collection button.
    (click on images to open a larger version in a new window)
    New collection in Zotero
  2. You will be prompted to add a name for your collection. 
  3. Your new collection will now appear in your library bar on the left-hand side.
  4. To add items that already exist in your library to your collection, select My Library and view the items.
    My Library Zotero
  5. To add resources to a collection, drag them from the middle pane to the appropriate collection in the left hand pane.
  6. To make a subcollection, right-click on a collection and choose New Subcollection - or drag an existing collection into another collection.
  7. To rename a collection, right-click on it (control-click on Macs) and select Rename Collection. 

Viewing Attached Items in Zotero

  1. Open up Zotero standalone and view either your library or the collection containing the resources you wish to access.
  2. Notice the chevron symbol (>) beside the resource you wish to view.
    (click on images to open a larger version in a new window)
    chevron symbol circled in Zotero
  3. If you click on this symbol, it will show you what has been saved in Zotero for this resource.
  4. Here you can find information about the resource or - of it was available - the full text of the resource.
    Highlighting PubMed Central PDF and link in Zotero
  5. To view your citation information and to edit it if it is inaccurate or incomplete, select the name of the resource. You will be able to view and edit the citation in the right hand box, as seen below:
    Citation information in Zotero
  6. To access a link to the source of the citation, or to view the full text if it is available, click on the chevron and select the appropriate saved data link, as seen below.
    link to citation full text in Zotero

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
Michener Institute of Education at UHN, 2018.